Abstract The seaborn trade is considered as the engine for an inclusive and sustainable growth and development of the worldwide economy.For the last decades, the seaborn trade has maintained its growth trend, resulting in the increase of number of ships. This increase of shipping fleet has been accompanied with increase of fuels consumption and harmful to the environment. Various types of marine fuels have been used for the propulsion of ships depending on ship size, type of engine and trading area. However, the use of marine fuels and in particular heavy fuel oil for the propulsion of ship, generate greenhouse gases emission, waste, and in case of oil spill causes harmful to the marine ecosystem. In order to limit and reduce this environmental impact, the international maritime organization has established several stricter regulations. The implementation of these regulations has put pressure on shipowners, to operate their vessels efficiently in compliance with compulsory regulations. In this paper, we evaluate the different types of nowadays marine fuels, in term of their compliance with the compulsory environmental regulations, cost-effectiveness and their suitability to be used for the future propulsion of the autonomous ship.